Eric Bever, a former Mayor of Costa Mesa who helped bring the “405 Corridor Cities” together last year to fight the proposed Toll Lanes, sent this into the local papers last week. Costa Mesa’s Daily Pilot ran a truncated version of it; we don’t expect the Register or Times to touch it, so with Eric’s permission we reprint it in full here:

Why is OCTA pushing so madly for Toll Lanes on our freeways? Why does OCTA believe Toll Lanes should be paid for with monies duly voted for specific purposes that do not include Toll Lanes? Why is OCTA so strongly motivated to turn our free Freeway lanes into Toll Lanes that they would ignore the very people who pay for everything: the Orange County taxpayers.

From whence does OCTA’s zeal for this major shift in social policy emanate? And more to the point: When did our public agencies become our masters, and our elected officials their toadies? Why does it seem impossible for OCTA to simply do the right thing?

Thorough analysis of 405 Alternative 2, (which adds two general purpose lanes both north and south from the 73 to the 605), has demonstrated that the project, which is has received near-unanimous citizen support, can be completed for the same amount as what the agency has budgeted for its single-lane version of the project (“Alternative 1.”) This development should come as welcome news, but not everyone is smiling, because it does not fit “the plan”.

According to OCTA’s Attorney, the 405 project’s newfound savings cannot possibly be applied to enhancing the project for which they have in their entirety already been budgeted. Gotta spend that money elsewhere… It’s “the law”, by golly! Of course, this is the oldest bureaucratic trick in the book.

This is a very questionable position for OCTA to take when applying same project savings of roughly 8% to their originally budgeted project literally DOUBLES the effectiveness of the taxpayer money being spent…

The benefit of applying these savings to the project at hand is so substantial that one has to wonder whether OCTA not taking advantage of these savings to build two new free lanes for the price budgeted for one lane represents a failure to meet the agency’s fiduciary responsibilities to the public?

Meanwhile, OCTA dangles the carrot of $100 million available “extra” MM2 dollars (those 405 project savings!) to encourage its Board members, (most of whom are not 405 project adjacent), for their support of immediate or eventual tolling on our freeways as the agency’s official goal.

OCTA has also attempted to “incentivize” the six 405 corridor cities, all of which vehemently oppose tolling on the 405, by proposing to throw an unnamed quantity of money around in the 405 “corridor area.” This cynical offer has been repeatedly refused by all six cities in unison, who see it as a bribe. The ethical leaders of the corridor cities refused to play any part in OCTA’s scheme, and have refused to sell out the county taxpayers for their own gain. How refreshing!

Is there nothing wrong with these unseemly financial politics in which OCTA’s unelected bureaucrats use the peoples’tax dollars to bribe our elected “leaders” into supporting their bureaucratic vision and ignoring the public position? Is it appropriate or ethical for these leaders to engage with a local public-supported bureaucracy, which offers direct monetary incentives to their cities in exchange for board member participation in the OCTA Toll Road scheme?

Assemblyman Allan Mansoor recently collected and submitted thousands of taxpayer letters opposing toll roads on our freeways to OCTA, and standing-room-only crowds pack OCTA’s hearings to voice opposition to Toll Roads. This literal outpouring of public opposition provides clear evidence that the vast majority of OC voters still support the positions they took when they voted to open their wallets for Measure M and Measure M2: Freeway congestion relief, NOT Toll Roads on our freeways!

Considering its keen ability to turn a deaf ear to the legally binding MM & MM2, the will of the county’s voters, one ponders – just what is OCTA’s mandate these days? Why would the agency take such a negative stance in relation to its longtime financial supporters, the people of Orange County, and those who work and shop here?

Perhaps a recent proclamation by our Governor, Jerry Brown, speaks to the question: Mr. Brown has publicly stated an ambitious goal of adding 3 MILLION hybrid & electric vehicles to our state’s roadways in the coming years. To help facilitate this audacious goal, the California Legislature obligingly passed a law, which provides that hybrid and electric vehicles may use all statewide carpool and converted toll lanes free of monetary charge… regardless of their passenger count.

The question we must ask is whether it is OK to use taxes paid specifically for freeway congestion relief to further subsidize those who choose and can afford hybrids and electric cars? Is it acceptable public policy to use money paid by all to benefit only the few: hybrid owners who get a free ride, and the rich who will gladly pay for the privilege of bypassing the gridlocked masses who are not so fortunate?Is it OK for the majority of us who have paid extra taxes for years to receive little to no benefit for the taxes we have voluntarily paid? Is it ethical or even legal for OCTA to promulgate this Toll Road result when doing so quite literally equates to highway robbery?

The OCTA Board of Directors may yet redeem themselves by adopting 405 Alternative 2 and adding free lanes for all to use… We can only hope that board members will find their way to the only ethical conclusion by adopting the 405 Alternative 2 project on Dec. 9th.

About Admin

"Admin" is just editor Vern Nelson or associate editor Greg Diamond sharing something that they mostly didn't write themselves, but think you should see. Before December 2010, "Admin" may have been former blog owner Art Pedroza.

Poor “Beav”, see what I had to deal with for eight years. Granted his broken clock is striking against the toll road, but he’s blaming Jerry Brown and hybrid cars.
As if the Republican dominated , wholly owned subsidiary of the South County Developer run OCTA Board has nothing to do with it.

They have to create a different “boogeyman” so that the developer dollars will keep sloshing into their pockets.

Governor Brown and his army of hybrid cars are coming to ram a toll road up our freeway…..California Uber Alles.

Haven’t heard a peep from our neighbors in Newport Beach. Toll lanes, he’s against. Me too. I recall Mr. Bever never did get the SR55 finished while a city council member. The original agreed to plan that would have made the middle of Costa Mesa more than a traffic jam, ended the SR55 at the doorstep to Newport Beach. The city of Newport Beach didn’t want a freeway, so Costa Mesa got one. That is the reason for the 19th st terminus of the 55, regardless of the landlords along Newport Blvds. claims. I’d like to see a light rail or monorail system between John Wayne and Disney to the Stadium with another line running up to connect to the Blue line in Long Beach. Vision: What the OC doesn’t have.

More and more people will drive more and more cars on freeways until they are jammed completely. The only way to reduce traffic is to charge directly for driving in the lanes, or to provide safe and convenient mass transit options for the populace.

Alt 2 will ease the traffic a lot until 20 years from now, and we have paid for it with our taxes. Well within that time frame, peak oil will have caused folks to come up with alternatives to gas-guzzling cars. Including better mass transit.

*Desal, HSR and the Reason Foundation? Two out of three are right on….the other? “The Bev……” actually wrote a pretty good article for the Daily Plot today. Hey, even
a broken clock is right twice a day. His article was spot on and his constant request to understand the mindset of the OCTA…..was impressive!

It is encouraging that the many individuals who have taken a lead on this OCTA 405 toll lane issue provide an example of folks from different political persuasions working TOGETHER for the good of the PEOPLE.

You may be on to something. All of your subjects have talked a lot about the profit potential. OCTA staff probably likes the idea of creating a profitable new agency for itself to manage into the future, and outside influences have their motivations which vary from group to group.

Some of the motivations may be “good for business”, or “good for the environment”, both of which are admirable, However, misusing voter-approved MM & MM2 as a slush fund to achieve these ends while leaving the majority of taxpaying freeway users in the lurch is unconscionable.

Mr. Bever, I don’t know if this would necessitate a new agency. The work would be done in the existing CalTrans ROW. I can see a “private” company or consortium pushing this, as a CM/operational management deal, however. In this case the lobbyist(s) would be working hard behind the scenes to sway key votes while pitching nonsensical stuff about the DOT and CalTrans demanding toll roads, or else.

It would be pitched as “privatization” but of course paid for by the Measure M revenue, perhaps even leveraged through bonds.

I guess that this is our “405 Tolls” news article by defeault, so here’s the news:

Ending months of rancorous debate, Orange County Transportation Authority board members voted to pursue an expansion plan that would add one free lane in each direction along a 11-mile stretch of the 405 from the 605 Freeway to Euclid Street.

So, Alternative 1 was passed. Paloma Esquival of the Times seems to think that this ends the debate — but, as Vern has written earlier, Alt 1 creates a footprint that can be used to install toll lanes (or the second free land we should get) later on. So that doesn’t end the debate — but this might:

On Monday, OCTA CEO Darrell Johnson said the toll lane proposal had become so divisive that the agency was at risk of losing the confidence of voters who years ago approved a half-cent sales tax to widen the freeway.

And that is a testament to the hard work that began with Diana Carey and was incubated on and through this very blog. So congratulations especially to Vern and to our dearly departed Gus, who took this to John Moorlach and got things going.

I wouldn’t be at Moorlach’s well-timed fundraiser tonight even if I could afford it — but I will predict that it will now be a rollicking affair.

Hmmm… yeah, that is the news I guess. I think I WILL write a piece after all, a short piece now that I’ve thought of a title: “The Smell of Dead Toll Lane Dreams.”

Now it’s back down to where I wanted to be a year ago: Convincing a majority of the Board that we can afford Alt 2. It was a little disorienting and refreshing finally hearing arguments for and against that, with the Toll nuisance out of the way.

Sorry to say, I just missed Allan’s presser; so did Nick Gerda, who came panting up the same time as me. Oops, Nick gets paid, I don’t.

“Darrell Johnson said the toll lane proposal had become so divisive that the agency was at risk of losing the confidence of voters who years ago approved a half-cent sales tax to widen the freeway.”

Too bad the “agency” didn’t apply that same standard to ARTIC – an outright Measure M2 swindle. Of course at the time the head honchos were Masters of the Universe. A universe in which no scam that funnels dough into the right pockets can be bad.

Alternative 1 is the toll road fallback position because it lengthens all the overpasses to accommodate 2 extra lanes each way. It adds “one general purpose lane” it leaves the vulnerable “convertible” carpool lane, and separates the immense cost of the bridge work from the cost of the eventual second new lane, thus keeping the cost down and door open for later tolling.

Just watch, the second lane will be poured, the carpool converted, and for 200 million you have a 4 lane toll facility and the schlubs in the general lanes still have their original 5 free lanes. This is where the profit opportunity lies: free right of way courtesy of MM2 doing all the overpass and flyover work. OTHERWISE the toll idea has much less luster…

Just look to the “toll roads” that are paying their own way (as they should), the 73 and 241… They have long and will continue to struggle financially. Kudos to all who fought this… Whether they be oriented to the Left or Right.

*Aternate #2 of course…….get a vote of the people OCTA…….if you doubt that. Maybe you will find that $100 mill someplace ….eh? And what four great minds voted against
the Alternate #1 option yesterday? Janet abstained because she wanted Alt #2.
But what about the rest?

Per Nick Gerda, Moorlach, Miller, and Harper voted “no” because they wanted Alt #2. He says the same of Spitzer, but I’m not going to presume that anyone — Spitzer included — knows what Spitzer’s position is here, given that he took a pro-toll position (and then maybe an anti- position, though that was unclear) at the previous meeting. If he takes a position for a full month and doesn’t contradict it during that time, then I’ll tentatively accept that that’s his position.